Read Across America Day

Schools across the country will recognize Read Across America Day on Monday, March 3, 2014.  The day's purpose is to bring excitement for reading to students of all ages.

Penny Crooks, Assistant Principal at AHS, shared this great video titled, "How Reading Fiction Makes Our Brains Better":


Dr. Toth (AHS principal), Mrs. Crooks, Mrs. Shinn (AHS media specialist), Mrs. Holland (AHS media specialist), and I have organized 20 minutes of D.E.A.R. for the beginning of 4th period on March 3 to join in the Read Across America Day fun.

I am happy to help with any other school's or individual teacher's efforts to celebrate reading on this day (or any day).  Here is a link to some other possible Read Across America event ideas from the National Education Association:  http://www.nea.org/grants/plan-a-reading-event.htm.

Don't forget to mark your calendars!

~Chandra

4-Corner Sticky Note Thinking

Integrating critical thinking in your classroom does not have to be an overwhelming task.  Here is a easy activity.  It's called 4-Corner Sticky Note Thinking.

• Provide a really thoughtful, open-ended question with many possible "right" answers.
• Give students sticky notes to write down their answers. (The trick is to provide 5 different sticky note colors.)
• Students will then find their group members (students with matching colored sticky notes) and place their sticky notes in the 4 corners of a paper.
• After reading through and discussing all the answers, students have to collaborate and combine their answers to make the best possible answer.

With this activity, students are evaluating and communicating their own thinking.  It's simple, collaborative, and adaptable to various content areas.

Here is a sample from a 6th grade teacher's blog.  

Image and text credit to rundesroom.com 

Word Up!

On December 5, 2013, level 1 beginning teachers at NAMS, SAMS, and AHS learned and discussed ways to incorporate engaging vocabulary strategies in their classes.  The sessions were a part of the Asheboro City Schools' S.E.E.D.S. (Setting Expectations for Educators and Defining Success) New Teacher Induction Program, and were led by Betsy Hammond (Science Coach), Dubraska Stines (ESL Lead Teacher) and me.  The teachers in attendance immediately began to brainstorm ways they could take our ideas and make them work in their different content areas. We charged them with documenting and reflecting on their efforts. I'm excited to share an Animoto with work samples from most of the participants...


 Are you interested in learning about vocabulary, too?  Click here for a link to a Vocabulary Instruction LiveBinder. Below you will find the presentation they viewed with videos and links to vocabulary strategies. Please take a look and feel free to contact Betsy, Dubraska, or me if you would like additional explanation and/or support.

 

 ~Chandra

Writing Instruction Site

Tina Webster, Tech Facilitator at AHS, sent me links to some writing web tools a few days ago.  The sites are created to help students through the writing process, from the pre-writing stage all the way to publication.  She shared them just in time for me to add it to wikispace I want to reveal to you all...

 http://comets-write-now.wikispaces.com/ .  
  

It is a writing instruction site that the AHS Literacy Leadership Team has worked on for the last year. It's geared toward helping you, the teacher, have quick access to tools, tips, and resources. The first section is all about the writing process.  The web tools from Tina (Kaizena, Crible, Protagonize, and Slatebox) are found in the appropriate stage of writing in this portion of the wiki.  The second portion provides content area writing tips.

We wanted to create a site for all content teachers.  It is still a work in progress, but it's meant to be collaborative.  Share your resources with me and let's learn from each other.

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http://comets-write-now.wikispaces.com/